I think you got it wrong here. Shamans don't control fire or other elements in the sense that they directly call fire out of thin air. They gain those power by asking/demanding/making deals sentient beings called elemental spirits. The spirits give them access to the types of element they represent. Fire as natural force are just like arcane. It's not sentient being.

People fundamentally misunderstand the difference between Druidism and Shamanism. Nature in Druidism and Shamanism are not the same thing. I wouldn't even call Shamanism that it's about nature. They just use natural forces.

Shamanism is about communing with the spirits to gain access to all these elemental powers. Shamans act as mediator between spirit world and Azeroth. They get those power from those spirits through variety of mean. You will see that Shamans are able to shift into ghost wolf. The key word is "ghost" which means it is of spirit world. The ability defines the difference between Shamanism and Druidism. You could see that Thrall was powerless when Garrosh locked the spirits in that area away.

Druidism is about Azeroth itself. It's about waking,living and breathing world. Azeorth itself has its system of how things work. Druids tap into the system and through that knowledge they are able to mess with the system or balance it.

Ever wonder why Druids who go into Emerald Dream and sleep for many years become more powerful? Emerald Dream is the blue print of Azeroth. By "studying" there they learn the structure of Azeroth in its purest form thuse making them more connected to the ebb and flow of the waking world.

When Shamans call a storm, they ask spirit of the wind to lend the power. Druid can do the same thing but different mean. They do it by harnessing the power of the nature itself. They know how to manipulate the weather to create a terrible storm. They tap into "the code" of nature to shift into different life forms.

Although I suppose technically it would make more sense than dwarves? Although I always thought Night Elves were more about Nature than the Elements overall.

The Ironforge Dwarves were introduced to Shamanism by the Wildhammers (who have always been shamans), when they were brought into the Alliance, during the early events of Cataclysm.

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Originally Posted by Classiccs

As it stands right now, Night Elf can't be Shaman. To me, this doesn't feel right and seems like they'd at least be somewhat equipped to be one with the elements considering their history as Druid's. I've asked in-game and only ever gotten the "it goes against lore" response but no substantial explanation.

How do you guys feel about the race/class combo and what's truly preventing it from happening?

“How many people long for that 'past, simpler, and better world', I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them?” - R.A.Salvatore
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge." - Dr. Richard Dawkins

Glad you brought this up. A regular shaman does act as a mediator between the physical world and the elements and asks them for help. A taunka shaman... a naga shaman even (since we have seen naga controlling the water, earth and air, not fire... for obvious reasons) forces the elements to do their bidding. In Northrend it is clearly stated by the taunka that they don't have time to pray to the elements, they force them. Even in Vashj'ir there's a taunka that goes and says this. So being a shaman doesn't necessarily mean you ask the elements for aid.

And about the spirits needing contact... you just stated that the night elves do have spirits they already contact, they're called wisps! And if we take into account the Lunar festival, they also go and contact other ancient spirits too!

As for the night elf fire shaman... well, I do think that night elves will learn something after having dealt with... fire druids? And considering they now have a permanent outpost in Firelands, the land of fire, I don't see it quite as weird of them to learn fire abilities.

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So they returned too all males are druids then? Then how does Renferal fit into all this? Maybe that's why they killed her... I haven't seen said item (had really bad luck with night elven archeology, think I got the hairpin like 93575 times. I could start acupuncture with ancient night elven hairpins.) but if it's there then I admit that I'm wrong and all druids were male.

You misunderstood heh. It wasn't until after Warcraft 3 (and TFT) that they changed things a bit, thus allowing male night elves to join the "Sisterhood" of Elune and females to join the Cenarion Order. Recently, males were allowed to serve as Sentinels as well (stated in Wolfheart). The statue you can make through Archaeology is a testament to that change.

You misunderstood heh. It wasn't until after Warcraft 3 (and TFT) that they changed things a bit, thus allowing male night elves to join the "Sisterhood" of Elune and females to join the Cenarion Order. Recently, males were allowed to serve as Sentinels as well (stated in Wolfheart). The statue you can make through Archaeology is a testament to that change.

I probably got things a bit mixed up then. Though about the Sentinels part, if males only appeared within the Sentinels rank from Wolfheart, then what's with the night elf army from Silithus during the Shifting Sands questchain? I did that chain and in there the night elf army had lots of male warriors of kinds. Weren't they "sentinels" so to say?

I probably got things a bit mixed up then. Though about the Sentinels part, if males only appeared within the Sentinels rank from Wolfheart, then what's with the night elf army from Silithus during the Shifting Sands questchain? I did that chain and in there the night elf army had lots of male warriors of kinds. Weren't they "sentinels" so to say?

They would've been regular soldiers I suppose, where as the Sentinels are the elite core? I'm guessing now I'll be honest.

Yes I'm very well aware of this fact, however it does, somewhat, clash with the above post involving male night elf soldiers fighting the war of the Shifting Sands. Clearly they must've been conscripts or regular soldiers since they couldn't have been Sentinels for obvious reasons.